Visa waivers are only a first step

Updated 2:38 pm, Tuesday, January 15, 2013

In March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is expected to enact a revision of its visa policy that will remove a barrier that prevents some illegal immigrants from complying with immigration laws. The change is a positive step, but is still far short of the comprehensive immigration reform the nation needs.

Under current policy, family members of U.S. citizens who want to legalize their status must return to their home country to apply for a visa. Illegal immigrants are normally subject to a 10-year ban on re-entering the United States.

As Express-News staff writer Jason Buch reported, spouses and children of U.S. citizens can apply for a waiver, but the application must also be made in their home country and can require as long as a year for approval.

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The new rule would allow people to apply for the waiver before leaving the country, Buch reported. Under the rule, the applicant can stay at home with his or her family until the waiver is approved.

It makes no sense to punish immigrants who want to square their legal status by separating their families for months or, in the worst case, up to 10 years. Doing so discourages illegal immigrants who would actually like to comply with U.S. immigration laws. Broadening the visa change to cover the family members of green card holders is the next logical step.

Critics fault the policy for encouraging more immigrants to enter the United States illegally and then take steps to legalize their status. Those immigrants are coming in any case, the result of a mismatch between this country's immigration laws and its labor needs.

Those laws need to be reformed to take account of a U.S. population that is aging, better educated and less likely to take on rigorous low-wage jobs. The avenues for immigrants who want to come to the United States to take those jobs need to be broadened and the process for them to enter streamlined. Until the nation's leaders find the will to engage in such comprehensive reform, modest measures such as the change in visa policy will have to suffice.